hodgson



3 sheets-sheet. i.

(No Model.)

J. G. HODGSON.

' GANG DIE PRESS. m3361286. Patented Apr. 19, 1887.

Ina/enfor- (No Moae1. j

J. G. 'HODGSON GANGDIE PRESS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

'no docs not happen to be ofthe exact proper size 3 5 guide pin or stop,the sheet will always prop- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-JOHN G. HODGSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SSIGNOR TO EDWIN NORTON ANDOLIVER NV. NORTON, OI SAME PLACE.

GANG DlEPRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of I .etters Patent No.361,286, dated April19,1887.

Application filed December 13, 18H6. Serial No. 221,356. (No modi-l.) I

.To-all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,JoHN G. lIoDGsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvementin Gang Die-Presses, of whichthefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in gang die-presses for cutting outsheet-metal 1o can-heads or other blanks, and more particularly toimprovements uponthegangdie-press shown and described in Letters PatentNo. 304,352, granted September 2, 1884.

In this invention the dies are arranged alx 5 ternately, so as to cutoutat each stroke of the press only the alternate heads or blanks from thesheet, as is shown and described in the patent above referred to. Inoperating such alternately-arranged gangdics, if the sheet when it isreversed to eut out the second half or series of blanks therefrom andits opposite end or edge pressed against the gages or stops,

the blank spaces will not always properly reg- ;5 ister with the dies,andwhere the sheet is just of sutiicient size to cut'a certain number ofheads or blanks, as 'is frequently the case, a

- very slight inisadjustment will occasion imperfect heads. To remedythis, in the present 3o invention I provide the press with aregistering-punch, which cuts out a registering-notch in the edg'e ofthesheet,- so that when the sheet is reversed or turned end for end orupside down, and this registering-notch .placed against the er] yregister with the gang of dies. In operating such agang of dies it isalso important that the whole sheet should always be spread outperfectly flat and smooth before the dies Strike 4c the same; and toeffect this result I provide the movable head of the press with a platehaving holes or perforations in which the male dies fit and throughwhich they can project. This plate comes down and strikes the sheet inadvance of the dies, and thus smooths and liattens ont the sheet beforethe male dies strike it. This smoothing-plate reciprocates upon the maledies. It also serves as a stripper to remove or strip the sheet from themale dies 5o when the head of the press'is raised. To cause this sheetsmoothing plate to operate also as a stripper, stationary pins aresecured to a fixed bar attached to the frame of the machine. Theseejector-pins project through suitable holes in the movable head of thepress and strike against the stripper-plate as the cross-head is raised.In order to eject the head or blank eut from the sheet from or out ofthe male die, eiecting-pins are provided,

which project through and are mounted upon 6c the die itself. Theseeiecting-pins strike against a cross-bar mounted in a slot in thedie-head and connected by suitable guide pins with the bottomstripper-plate.

The invention also consists in the novel de- 65 vices and novelcombinations of devices herein shown and described, and moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,and in which simi- 7o lar letters of reference indicate like parts,Figure 1 is a front view of a device embodying my invention and showingthat part of the press to which my invention relates. Fig. 2 is a planview showing the bed-.plate or lower die-head, looking down from line22of Fig.- l. Fig. 3 is a plan viewlooking down from line 3 3 of Fig. 1.Figs. 4 and 5 areviews showing the gages or stops for registering thesheet in the gang of dies. Fig. 4 shows the sheet after 8o one-half ofthe heads or blanks have been cut ont, and Fig. 5 the same after theremainder are'cut out. Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section on lined Got'Fig. l. v

In the drawings, A represents the frame of the-machine or a partthereof.

A is the cross-head, and Ai the guides for the cross-,head on the frame.

B C are male and .female dies alternately arranged, as illustrated inFig. 2, and as also 9o indicated in Fig. 4f.

B is the movable die head or plate attached to the cross-head, and in orupon which the dies B are secured, and C' is the bed-plate, in

or upon which the female dies are secured.

The die-head B is furnished with a rigidlyattached socket-pl ate, b,having holes or sockets b', to receive the end of the dies B. The dies Bare secured to the die-head B by means of screws bi, the heads of whichfit in eounterloo sunk holes in the upper surface of the dieplate. Thesocket-plate b and screws b2 afford ble manner,

a secure and easy means of ixing the dies in the die head or plate B.The die head or plate B is secured to a plate, B, which is attachedrigidly to the cross-head A.

D is a smoother or stripper plate fitted upon the male dies B, andadapted to reciprocate thereon below the socket-plate b of the diehead.-This plate D has holes d, in which the male dies B fit, and throughwhich they may project.

E is a stop-bar attached to the frame of the i machine, and providedwith adjustable eject-4 ing-pins E E', which project through suitableholes in the die-head B and the plate B2. The pins E E' are ad justablyIixed to the stationary bar E by means of serewfthreads and nuts e e.When the eross-head of the press is raised or makes its backward stroke,the fixed pins E E will strike against the movable stripper' plate D,and thus arrest its upward movement with the movable gang of dies B,andthereby strip the sheet X from the same, and at the same time withdrawthe dies B within the holes in the plate D, so that said plate willproject in advance of the dies or their cuttngedges at their nextdownward stroke. The plate D will thus strike the sheet X in advance ofthe gang of male dies B and exert a light pressure against the same, soas to perfectly smooth and flatten it out before the male dies strikeit.

The head or blank, .if/,cut from the sheet is automatically ejected fromthe male die, as the crosshead makes its upward or reverse movement, bymeans of one or more ejecting-pins, mounted in suitable holes, f', inthedie B itself, which ejeeting-pins strike against a movable cross bar orstop, F, mounted in a suitable slot or recess, F', in the die-head plateB. This stop-bar F isrigidly connected by suitable pins, f 2, with thestripper-plate D, so that when the upward movement of the plate D isarrested by the stop-pins E E' the upward movement of the stop-bar Fwill be likewise arrested, and the pins f j thus caused to eject orstrip the head or blank x fromthe die. The connecting pins or links f",which connect the bar F with the plate D, may preferably project throughsuitable holes, f3, in the head-plate B and its diesocket plate b. Thestop or bar F may, however, be connected with the stripper-plate D inany other suitaif desired. Each die B is preferably provided with twoejecting-pins, ff, and a single movable stop, F, will of course answerfor both ejecting-pins, the stop in such ease being preferably in theform of a bar extending over both ejecting-pins, as shown.

In the gang die shown in the drawings, Figs. 2, 3, 4, it will be`observed that two pairs of the six dies shown come directly oppositeeach other in the die-head, and 1 therefore, for sake of convenience,employ a single stop-bar, F, for the four ejecting-pinsf of each suchpair of dies B B. This is clearly shown in Fig. 3. The gang diesillustrated in the drawings are of such size as to cut out of theordinary tinplate sheet twelve can-heads-six at cach operation-the headsbeing for three-pound cans. The sheet, as shown, is a little larger,both in width and length, than is required for making twelvethree-poundean heads. The dies are, however, arranged preferably aboutas shown in the drawings, so that equal intermediate spaces may he left,and thus all utilized for cutting out cancaps, as indicated by the inFig. 5.

In a gang dieprcss for cutting the sheet into smaller or larger sizedheads, ofcourse it will be understood that a greater or less number oi'dies will be employed in the gang, according to the size of the heads.Where, for example, the sheet is cut into twenty-four heads, there willbe twelve instead of six of the alternatelyarranged dies, and threeinstead of'two of the dies will come in the same straight line or opposite cach other, and in suchl case a single st0p-bar, F, maypreferably be employedv to operate the ejeeting-pins f f ol such threedies. The ejecting-pins f f are secured to or lit against the usualmovable ring portion, b, ofthe die B.

As shown in the drawings, the dies B C are furnished with the usualsupplemental dies, c c', for cutting out a stud-hole in the head w, andfor simultaneously stamping or shaping said head, as desired, and alsofor cutting ont a cap, m'. The dies B C are further furnished 'withdiese2 c, for pricking avent-hole in the cap av', and withspringactuated ejeeting-pins h i h2. The ejecting-pins h t against aring portion, et, of the die C, and are actuated by a rubber spring orcushion, h3. The central port-ion, c, of the die c is mounted upon aspring, h, and serves to eject the cap x from the die c.

K and K are the male and female dies secured to the head-plate B' andbedplate C',

lrespectively, for cutting the registering notch or recess e in one edgeof the sheet, and k k k are the registering or guide pins for the edgesof the sheet. 'lhese guide pins are fixed to the bedplate C.

As illustrated in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, the dies cut a registcringnotch, e,in the opposite edge of the sheet Xjust the same distance as the stop lcfrom the marginal die or dies B C, so that when the sheet is reversedand the registering-notch o pressed against the guidepin k the sheetwill properly register with the gang of dies, and the second half of theheads thus be cut out in straight lines with the first halt', as isshown in Fig. 5. As illustrated in the drawings, the sheet is turned endfor end and upside down for cutting out the second half ot' theheads,`so that the saine side edge, v', of the sheet comes against theguides k lc. If the sheet should be reversed by turning end for end,keeping the-same face up, the opposite side edge, e, would come againstthe stops or guides k k', and in such case similar dies, K K', should beprovided for cutting like registering-notches in the edge v2 of thesheet. I, however, consider it preferable to reverse the sheet in themanner first described, and thus lines y vC at the other end.

351,286 l l s keep the same edge of the sheet against the pins k']c. Theinner edge of the'dies K K', it will beobservcd, are i ust the samedistance from a transverse line through the center of the die C at theone end as tile guide-pin k is from a likeline -through the center ofthe die rlhis is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The means shown and described for automatically ejecting the 'head orblank a: from the die B may of course be also used in a single diefpressas well as in a gang press.

It will be understood that the dies K K', instead of merely cutting anarrow registering notch or recess, ,might be made to cut a wide notchor recess, or to square the entire edge of the sheet. Aregistering-notch wide enough to admit the gageor pink is, however, allthat is required.

While in the device illustrated in the drawings theplate D serves two ormore functionsviz., to smooth and flatten out the sheet, and also as astripper for removing the sheet from the dies and as the meansofcommunicating motion to the stop-bars F-and while the more improved formof my invention consists in this plate arranged and combined so as toperform these several functions, I desire it to be distinctly understoodthat my invention in its broader features is not confined to a plate, D,having such duplicate functions.

In its function asa smoother-plate to smooth and iiatten out the sheetin advance of the male dies the plate D- (eo-operates` with the opposingsurface of the series or gang of fel male dies, the upper or cuttingfaces of all of which are of course arranged in the'same plane, andtogether constitute a single plane surface, between which and the.smoother-plate the sheet is pressed and flattened out into a true plane,and all curves orverinkles removed be forey the gang of male diesstrikes it. By means of the smoother-plate I am thus enabled to do asperfect work with a gang of dies operating simultaneously as can be donewith a single die. I am of course aware that heretofore a singe die hasbeen made to operate inside of another hollow die while thc latter holdsor presses the blank.

The bedplate C is vfurnished with a socketplate, C", having holes orsockets C for the female dies C. The die holes or sockets in the plate band C2 exactly match each other, and these matching plates,in which thedies fit, thus afford a ready means for at once causing each and all themale and female diesot' the gang to exact-l y and accurately registerwith each other. The die holes or sockets in the match-plates b and Cextend entirely through one of the plates, atnd preferably entirelythrough both plates, to enable the plates to be clamped` together andthe die-holes bored or drilled in both plates at the same time, toinsure the several die-holes in the opposing plates being exactlyconcentric with and op# posite,to eachother. The two matclrplates beingeach thus provided with die-sockets cxactly opposite eachother, the maleand female dies fixed in such match-plates' may all be. readily adjustedto register with each other. The movable ring portion'b of the male dieis kept in place by means of a ledge or shoulder thereon, which strikesagainst asimilar ledge or shoulder on the central part, c', of the die.j

The holes d in the smoother-plate D should loosely tit the punches ormale dies B B, so

that the full weight of said plate `will press against the sheet X asthe cross-head of the press descends and before the dies B strike thesheet.

I claim- 1. In a gang die-press having alternatelyarranged male andfemale dies, the combination, with a guide pin or gage for one edge ofthe sheet, of a pair of dies, as K K, for forming acorrespondingregistering notch or 'recess'in the opposite edge of the sheet foradjusting the sheet into position under the gang of dies for the secondst'r9ke,substan .,tially as specified.

2. In a gang diepress having alternatelyarranged male and female dies,the combination, with a guide pin or gage for one edge of the sheet, ofa pair of dies, as K K', for forming a corresponding registering notchor recess in the opposite edge of the sheet for adj ustmg the sheet intoposition under the gang of dies for the second stroke, and gage or guidepins k k for the side edge of the sheet, subst-antially as specified.

3.' In a gang die press, the combination, with a gang of male dies and agang of female dies, of a sheet-flattener or smoother-platereciprocating upon said male dies and adapted to strike 'the sheet inadvance of the dies, and thus smooth and flatten it out, said femaledies having their cutting-edges all in the same plane and operating inconjunction with the said flattener-plate, substantially as specified.

4. In a gang diepress, the combination, with male dies B, secured to amovable head, B', of female dies C, secured to bed-plate C', and asheet-smoother or flattenerplate, D, having holes d, through which saiddies B may project, said plate being mounted to reciprocate upon saiddies and adapted to strike the sheet iu advance of the dies, said femaledies having their cutting-edges all in the same plane and operating inconjunction with the said tiattencr-plate, substantially as specified.

Y 5. In a gang die-press, the combination, with male dies B and femaledies C, of stripper-plate D, reciprocating on said dies B, a

Ico

IXO

said stri pper-plate as the cross-head is raised, i

stop-bars F, connected to said stripper-plate D, ejectingpins f, and themovable stripper rings or portions of the dies, against which saidejectingpins f strike, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with dies B and C, of head B', having slot; orrecess F', stop-har F, and ejecting-pinsff, plate D, and connecting pinsor linksf 1, substantial] y as specified.

8. The combination, with dies B and C, of head B', having stop or recessF', stop-bar F, and ejcctingpinsff, plate D, connecting pins or linksfi,and stop-bar E and pins E'E, substantially as specified.

9. The combination, with a gang of dies, B, and afgang of dies, C,bed-plate C', headplate B', having slots or recesses F', extendingover'or across two of said dies B, ejectingpins f f for each of saiddies B, movable stopbars F, mounted in said slots or recesses b, and themovable stripper rings or portions of the dies, against which saidejectingpins f strike, substantially as specified.

10. The combination, in a gang die-press, of a head-plate furnished witha match-plate having sockets foiI the male dies with a bedplatefurnished with a match plate having sockets for thc female dies, thesockets in said match-plates being concentric with each other andextending entirely th rough the same, the ends of the dies {it-tingagainst said head-plate and hcdplate, substantially as specified.

JOHN G. HODGSON.

\Vii nesscs:

EDMUND ADcocK, H. M. MUNDAY.

